Day -1 until kickoff
The wait is over — the 2026 FIFA World Cup is officially underway, and the opening match delivered exactly the kind of drama this tournament promises.
Mexico opened the biggest World Cup in history against South Africa at Estadio Azteca, with the co-hosts leading 10-man South Africa in the tournament's very first match. The Azteca becomes the first stadium ever to host three World Cup opening matches, having done so in 1970 and 1986 as well.
The full 48-team field is set, spread across 12 groups of four teams each, with 104 matches scheduled across 16 host cities in three countries from June 11 through July 19. Thirty-two teams will advance from the group stage — the top two from each group plus the eight best third-place finishers.
Wataru Endo has withdrawn from Japan's World Cup squad due to injury and simultaneously retired from international football, a bittersweet end for the Liverpool midfielder who won't get to play on this stage. Lionel Messi will captain defending champions Argentina at a sixth World Cup — a number that still doesn't feel real no matter how many times you read it.
Mexico's Guillermo Ochoa, by appearing in this tournament, joins Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players ever to appear in six World Cups — a record shared by three of the most decorated internationals in history.
The USMNT opens tomorrow, June 12, against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California — Group D also includes Australia and Türkiye. Canada kicks off the same day against Bosnia and Herzegovina at BMO Field in Toronto.
The 16 host stadiums span everything from NFL behemoths converted for the occasion to Mexico City's iconic 80,824-capacity Azteca, which opened in 1966 and has now seen it all.
Everything we've been counting down to for months — the squads, the kits, the stadiums, the storylines — now has to be settled on the pitch. Enjoy every minute of it.